(24 November 2017) The number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities increased in the 2016-17 academic year, totaling more than 1 million students from overseas for the second year in a row. But the number of new students enrolling at U.S. institutions declined in the fall of 2016, the first such decline in 12 years.

International Institute of Education compiles annual statistics on international exchanges of […]

(16 September 2017) A Washington, DC think tank recommends forming a stand-alone agency devoted to public diplomacy under the rubric of State Department. The Atlantic Council issued its assessment of State Department’s mission and organization on 6 September 2017, prepared at the request of Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The panel preparing the report consisted of former high-level officials at State Department and National Security Council, as well […]

(1 July 2017) According to a new Pew Research Center survey spanning 37 nations, Donald Trump’s presidency has had a major impact on how the world sees the United States. Trump and many of his key policies are broadly unpopular around the globe, and ratings for the U.S. have declined steeply in many nations. Excerpts from the report follow.

A median of just 22 percent has confidence in Trump to do the right thing when […]

(10 June 2017). The Lois Roth Endowment named its winners of this year’s achievement awards for cultural and educational diplomacy at a ceremony on 31 May. The awards were announced by Skyler Arndt-Briggs, chair of the Lois Roth Endowment, and Rick Ruth, Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State Department’ Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, or ECA, that takes part in the awards process.

(28 May 2017) A documentary film about Pete Cecere — former FSO in USIA, a leading folk art collector, and PDAA member — is completed and being distributed for theater and home viewing. The film, House of Stronzo, follows Pete’s quest to find homes for his more than 5,000 pieces of original art stored in his home in rural Virginia.

(28 November 2016) The number of international students attending American universities has been rising steadily. Just under 975,000 international students were enrolled in U.S. universities last year and that number has now increased to 1,043,839. That upward trend is important as foreign students contribute billions to the U.S. economy. China supplies the most international students to U.S. universities (328,547), followed by India (165,918), and Saudi Arabia (61,287).